How Human Intelligence Elevates AI in Email Security

Email security is more challenging today than ever as email-based threats like imaged-based phishing, business email compromise (BEC), and vendor email compromise (VEC) are becoming more frequent and complex. Many organizations have turned to artificial intelligence (AI) for email protection, but AI alone isn't enough. While AI is powerful, it has limitations in detecting the most sophisticated attacks. 

Combining human intelligence with AI creates a superior threat detection system, leveraging the strengths to handle increasingly advanced email threats. 

Why AI Needs Human Intelligence 

AI Alone is Not Enough

Static AI email security systems rely on historical data and predefined rules, which makes them effective at detecting known attack patterns but leaves them vulnerable to new, sophisticated threats like zero-day attacks and advanced phishing attempts.

While AI excels at scanning large volumes of emails quickly, it lacks the contextual understanding and critical thinking needed to assess ambiguous threats accurately. This is where human oversight becomes crucial. Security teams can evaluate flagged threats, applying their expertise to confirm or dismiss them, ensuring that sophisticated attacks are not overlooked.

By combining AI's speed with human judgment, organizations create a more comprehensive, adaptive AI defense system. AI handles large-scale threat identification, while human involvement ensures accurate threat assessment, closing the gap left by traditional AI solutions.

How Human-in-the-Loop Strengthens Email Security

Integrating human intelligence with AI creates a more flexible and effective approach to email security. Human input is essential for helping AI adapt to these evolving threats, enabling more accurate detection over time.

In a human-in-the-loop system, AI handles large-scale threat identification, flagging potential risks, while human oversight ensures that ambiguous cases are thoroughly evaluated. This reduces false positives and enhances the overall accuracy of threat detection. By combining the strengths of AI's speed with the critical thinking and contextual understanding that humans provide, organizations can respond more quickly and effectively to email threats.

This collaboration leads to stronger, more reliable security measures, ensuring that known and emerging threats are properly addressed in real-time.

Benefits of a Human-in-the-Loop System

A human-in-the-loop system offers several distinct advantages that significantly enhance email security. By combining the strengths of AI and human expertise, organizations are better prepared to handle sophisticated phishing attacks.

Key benefits of this approach include:

• Enhanced Threat Detection: Human intelligence complements AI, improving the detection of advanced attacks that AI alone might miss.

• Increased Employee Engagement: Human involvement provides training opportunities, making employees more aware and proactive in identifying phishing attempts.

• Improved Efficiency: By reducing false positives, human-in-the-loop systems free security teams from constantly managing false alarms, allowing them to focus on high-priority tasks.

This collaborative system creates a more efficient and resilient defense, giving organizations the tools to protect against even the most sophisticated email threats.

Conclusion

AI alone can't handle today's sophisticated email threats. By combining AI's speed with human judgment, a human-in-the-loop approach improves detection, reduces missed threats, and boosts efficiency, providing stronger, more reliable email security.

 To learn more about why AI alone isn't enough and how to build a comprehensive security strategy, download our whitepaper, Why AI Alone is Not Enough.